I see two points raised here that cause me to ask questions or express concerns:
First, if more Western raptors are dying today, why is this happening? Is more varmint hunting taking place? We've been shooting prairie dogs for years, yet it seems that the problem has only come front and center recently, as various groups (and some state game agencies) push for further lead restrictions.
Second, the switch to nontox for shotgunners is a far greater problem than some would think. Yes, there are nontoxic alternatives. But the ones that are friendly to old barrels and vintage shotguns are outrageously expensive. We're talking in the neighborhood of 5 to 10 times as much, depending on whether it's relatively inexpensive lead target ammo, or lead or steel hunting loads, to which we're doing a price comparison. And steel is far more of an issue than the game agencies claim. "Fine in any modern shotgun", they'll tell you. That's not what Browning says on their website--unless you consider Belgian Brownings, made into the 70's, as "vintage" guns rather than modern. And while steel is fine in 12ga guns, it gets iffy in anything smaller, and it pretty much eliminates the 28 and .410 for hunting.
But an expanded lead ban, even if it doesn't really make sense, is the easy way for the regulators to go. And government usually takes the easy way.
